I really agree about Selene. Jordan was simultaneously incredible and terrible at at keeping secrets from readers in the early books. I guarantee there will be a few twists that surprise you, and I’m grateful that Rafe is doing a good job keeping those twists close-to-the-vest in the show as well.
One of my complaints for S1 was on behalf of parallel readers like yourself. Eye of the World spoiled the show really fast by letting you know the “main character” and the show spoiled Eye really fast by saying “the main character is the Dragon Reborn”.
As for fast-travel… The existence of several fast-travel mechanisms are in the design of the world, and use of it is more than plot-armor after Eye. Though the one he takes in book 2 is sorta an odd choice that has led to a lot of fan arguments. Avoiding spoilers… a lot of readers wonder why he didn’t just write the Ways for Rand’s travels and just have him wake up there. I think there’s reasons for us to see the Portal Stones (controversially), but can’t get into it and might be wrong anyway :)
I DO think you’re confusing what happened in book 2 a bit, as well. Tel’aran’rhiod was not involved in Rand’s fast-travel to Cairhien. As you might be guessing, though, the world of dreams is going to show up in every book for the rest of the series.
Otherwise, a lot happened in this episode, it’s almost too much. Like in one episode the three women have gone from the tower to prisoners in a far away land under the thumb of Ishamael. Kinda awesome.
Yeah, I agree. I really liked the shift from individual focus to multi-focus while still keeping up the story-building.
Without delving into book spoilers, is it supposed to feel weird and unnerving that Ishamael is playing around with an empire as though he’s a normal human when he clearly has the power to kill everyone whenever he wants?
This is a very difficult question to answer without spoilers (and I had to check a lot of “when things were said”). In the book, as you know, we have a somewhat different Ishamael… Well, they’re the same philosophical mastermind underneath. And you’re obviously right that Ishy could have leveled Tomon Head if he wished to. HOWEVER, you seem to be far enough into the Great Hunt that the below isn’t a spoiler.
I will refer you to a quote you’ve already read in Eye of the World… And I’m putting it behind spoiler tags because it’s a bigger spoiler but you were already dealt all the cards you need to figure it out:
Relevant quote from Eye of the World (not spoiler, but you might not have put it together)
I whispered again, and the High King sent his armies across the Aryth Ocean, across the World Sea, and sealed two dooms. The doom of his dream of one land and one people, and a doom yet to come.
You could have put 2 and 2 together about that line by now. If so, and what you’ve read, you can conclude:
Rest of the answer (minor spoiler)
This particular arc of Ishamael’s story didn’t happen in the The Great Hunt and is unique to the show…
Ishy did what we’re seeing on screen 2000 years ago in the books, not today. So what he does in Ep6-8 is everybody’s guess. Not saying he doesn’t have a hand in today’s stuff, but for that Read and Find Out.
Thanks so much for the detailed response!!
I had forgotten about the line from the dark one, and it makes sense. I guess in the show Ishy hasn’t been free the whole time unlike in the book.
I DO think you’re confusing what happened in book 2 a bit, as well. Tel’aran’rhiod was not involved in Rand’s fast-travel to Cairhien.
Well in the book at this point it isn’t entirely clear what that world is. If described it as some kind of dream world just because Selene seems to magically turn up there, and it seemed similar to what the test arches do. Obviously not the same as dreams, but obviously mysterious at this point.
Ahhh… Yeah, that’s fair. It’s been hypothesized that they are similar (or the same) worlds… or not. We don’t see much of the Portal Stones after book 2 to be fair, and that’s not really a spoiler.
We don’t see much of the Portal Stones after book 2 to be fair, and that’s not really a spoiler.
That doesn’t surprise me. It felt really janky in the book, like I said above, it’s as though Jordan just needed to get Rand to Cairhein quickly, and any deeper plot points would probably have felt like derivative parallel universes stuff.
Not to whine too much about the books so far, but the ending of Book 1 established that I might not make it through the series because it seemed like a rushed blunder and didn’t bode well for the series, and while I’m enjoying book 2, that portals world thing with super-on-the-nose Selene out of no where really emphasises the sentiment. I’ll reserve judgment until the end of book 2, with my general aim being to finish book 4 (as that’s apparently when the series really starts), but that portals world with selene sequence really did feel like some low tier fantasy. Like worse than anything in book 1. I’m honestly sad that portal world isn’t some deeper plot point because it feels like quite a taint on book 2 and I’m surprised I hadn’t heard anything about it.
